COMPREHENSIVE, INSTANTLY UPDATED INTERNATIONAL NEWS PORTAL WITH DEEP ANALYSIS OF ALL SOMALI RELATED AFFAIRS, SPECIAL ATTENTION GIVEN TO SOMALILAND NEWS.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

SOMALIA: All to play for in unifying football tournament

SOMALIA: All to play for in unifying football tournament

NAIROBI, 21 December 2010 (IRIN) - Holding a football tournament withteams from 15 regions of Somalia is an achievement in itself - but theorganizers hope it will do more than only bring players together.

"The footballers taking part in the tournament have never known aunified Somalia; this is an opportunity for them to interact,"Abdirashid Hassan Baki, the deputy president of Somalia's FootballFederation (SFF), said. "We hope the tournament will also boost peaceand reconciliation in our country."

Somalia has been embroiled in conflict since 1990, with more than 1.4million displaced and 600,000 refugees in neighbouring countries. TheUN estimates more than two million Somalis need humanitarianassistance.

"The fact that we are even holding this football tournament for thefirst time since 1987 is in itself an achievement. This, to me, is amiracle and a beginning for peace and reconciliation. This is sport atits best. It reminds me of the 'ping-pong' between China and the US[when the US and China started their rapprochement under RichardNixon]."

At least 290 young Somali football players are taking part in the20-day tournament, which opened on 15 December in Garowe, capital ofthe autonomous region of Puntland. It is jointly organized byPuntland, northeastern Somalia and the SFF for Somali youths from 15of Somalia's original 18 regions.

Somalia has, over the years, split into three distinct areas. Whatwas the northern region of Somalia is now the self-declared republicof Somaliland, the northeastern regions are now the autonomous regionsof Puntland and the south and central are controlled by theTransitional Federal Government (TFG) and large parts of it byIslamist Al-Shabab and Hisbul Islam groups.

Baki said many of the players came from regions controlled bydifferent groups "but they all allowed them to come and participate".

"There were a lot of people crying, mostly the older people who couldremember [a unified] Somalia," Hamud said. "It is the first time forthe majority of us to attend anything that brought Somalis together.We all felt like true Somalis. No clans or regions."

Hamud said the tournament was an opportunity "to meet young peoplelike us from across Somalia, who we may never have met otherwise. Ihope to make lifelong friends."

Ahmed Egal Awale, the Puntland deputy minister of sports, said mostof the tournament's participants were born after the collapse of theSomali state in 1991. "It is their first experience of an all-Somaliaffair. Today in Garowe you will see youth from Mogadishu or Baidao,with others from Nugal or Sool. I don't think they ever thought theywould get such an opportunity.

"I have no doubt that this will contribute to peace andreconciliation in our country. It is bringing us together. It is awonderful feeling."

Baki of the SFF said many of the youth from south and central Somaliawere for the first time playing football without being afraid ofshells or bullets - "a new thing for many".